A MAN has been jailed for knocking his former friend unconscious with a single, powerful punch in a Cumbrian town centre, leaving him with serious head injuries and devastating after-effects.
Daniel Liam Taylor, 27, and Michael Owens had been pals who socialised together with their partners before a falling out earlier this year. There was contact between the pair in licensed premises on the night of March 13 when Taylor was aggressive, believing a false rumour had been spread about him.
After Mr Owens, now aged 38, and his partner next saw Taylor in Smokies bar in the early hours of the following morning, they left to get a takeaway. But CCTV footage played at Carlisle Crown Court today (FRI) showed Taylor – who moments earlier had been held back by others – approaching the couple and throwing one punch at Mr Owens. He fell, hit his head and was “knocked out cold”.
Mr Owens, a restaurant manager, was treated in hospital for a head wound which required 14 staples, suffered a bleed on the brain and lost half his front tooth. Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke spoke of “extensive” physical, psychological, social and financial ramifications for Mr Owens, which were detailed in a moving impact statement. “He describes the way this has affected him as horrendous, feeling a shadow of the man he used to be,” said Mr Clarke.
Taylor, of Broad Ings, Kendal, fled but was detained nearby, confessing to being “very drunk” and later admitting a grievous bodily harm charge.
The court heard of his “deep and genuine remorse”; that he was using alcohol to cope with personal problems at the time and had since sought professional help; and was the sole carer for his daughter.
Recorder Paul Reid QC admit he had “agonised” over whether or not to suspend the prison sentence. But, jailing Taylor for 16 months, he concluded: “I have to have proper regard for the serious injuries that were sustained by Mr Owens.”
